MINUTE MEDITATIONS

 

 “Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.”

Jeremiah 32:17

 

The Bible teaches us that we are to come to God in prayer, trusting that He can and will hear and answer us for Jesus’ sake (cf. James 1:6; Luke 5:12-13).

Jesus Himself said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).

John wrote in his first epistle, “And this is the confidence that we have in Him [Jesus Christ, the Son of God], that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

But so often we forget or doubt God’s willingness and ability to help. God commands us to pray, saying, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15). He assures us that even before we call, He will answer; and while we are still speaking, He will hear (Isaiah 65:24).

Because Jesus Christ, God’s Son, suffered and died for our sins and then rose again on the third day, we are assured that God accepts us as His own dear children through faith in Jesus and grants us the privilege of coming into His very presence with our prayers and petitions (cf. Hebrews 10:19ff.; Romans 8:15).

But can God answer all our prayers? Is He able to do all that we may need or ask of Him? If you have doubts, look around you at the wonders of His creation, or put your head back at night and look up at the stars in the sky. Cannot the God who has created and preserved all this, grant your request? Is there any need, any request, too great for Him?

Consider the words of Jeremiah, the prophet: “Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.”

Is God willing to hear and answer our proper prayers (those prayers which are in accord with His holy and perfect will)? Consider the inspired words of St. Paul to the Christians in Rome: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

As children of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26), we have every reason to come to our heavenly Father with our own troubles and needs as well as with those of others. He loves us, will hear us and can and will answer our prayers in accord with His good and perfect will.

O Gracious and Merciful Father in Heaven, we thank You for the great privilege of coming to You in prayer, and for the knowledge that You will both hear and answer our prayers for the sake of Your dear Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us Your Holy Spirit and the faith to know and believe that there is nothing too difficult for You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

 

[This devotion courtesy of The Still Small Voice, Gentry, Ark., www.thestillsmallvoice.com]

Devotions